Children of War
by BetterThanCoffee
Summary: Sometimes, Sokka thinks they are entirely too young to be part of this fight. Post - The Headband


A/N: Sorry I haven't written anything in forever, I have been really busy with work, and I have been feeling wholly uninspired. This is really rusty and forced, but I am trying to get my juices flowing once more.

Post- The Headband

Sokka was hungry. This was not his ever-present hunger that the teenager was famous for (he was a growing boy after all, he had to eat). No, Sokka was starving. All of them were. Traveling through the Fire Nation, watching their backs at every turn for any sight of the Fire Nation military did not leave much time to scavenge for some food. It had been two days since Sokka had filled his belly with anything more than water, and some potentially poisonous berries. If felt as if his navel had pulled tight against his spine, constricting his entire abdomen. Every movement sent his head swimming dangerously, threatening to ground the boy. Sokka wasn't sure if it was a side-effect from the hunger, or from the berries, but neither were really Sokka's primary concern.

While the Water Tribe boy reserved a modicum of worry for his own physique, most of Sokka's fretting was saved for the other three members of their group. Sokka was on the cusp of manhood, allowing him a fine layer of sinewy muscles to stretch over his bones. This small excess of body mass could be the deciding factor between hunger and starvation. Katara, Aang, and Toph, however, were not quite so lucky. Granted, Aang had muscles, but they were deceiving. The boy was so thin, that any hint of strength would shine through.

Sokka's eye regularly sought out the bare skin of girls. Not in a lecherous manner (Katara IS his sister!), but rather out of concern. The teenager was afraid if he looked away, that the two of them would disappear altogether. Sokka wished that they could spare a week to travel back to the Earth Kingdom, and stuff themselves full of custards, buns, and meat. As the brains behind their operation, with a very close deadline approaching, Sokka knew that in reality, it would be impossible.

"We need to stop," Toph's voice, rough from exertion, broke through Sokka's musings.

Sokka's head whipped around, his eyes almost bugging out of his skull. "What's wrong? Are you alright?"

Sokka clasped his hands around Toph's shoulders, but before he could continue in his diatribe, Toph brusquely pushed him aside, and wrapped her arms around Katara's thin waist.

"Sit," Toph demanded, attempting to pull the Water Tribe girl to the ground.

Katara stared at the earth bender as if she was going mad. "Toph, what—"

"Sit," Toph interrupted, wrestling Katara to the ground. "I can feel your heart practically fluttering out of your chest. You are going to sit until you can safely walk without passing out."

"Passing out?" Sokka choked.

"Katara, are you okay?" Aang asked, his eyes heavy with guilt.

"I'm fine, what are you talking about, Toph?"

Toph crossed her arms firmly over her chest, lifting her chin up in a show of confidence. "These feet can do more than see, Sugar Queen. I can feel every pulse of every person. You think I can't tell when someone is about to faint?"

Sokka stared into his sister's face. There was a light sheen of sweat dappled across her dark skin, and her eyes appeared to not be able to focus on anything, as they kept flitting around. Katara looked exhausted, and yet, she had kept her mouth shut. With her hair loose around her shoulders, and Fire Nation red clothed on her body, Katara looked unrecognizable from the little girl Sokka grew up with in the Southern Water Tribe.

Sokka can remember, almost three years prior, when he watched his father and then men of his tribe sail off for the war, leaving him behind to watch over their tribe. At that moment, Sokka wanted nothing more than to join then men in the fight for their freedom. He wanted to bring down the tyrannical Fire Nation with his own two hands. Sokka didn't want to sit idly by in the South Pole, twiddling his thumbs.

Yet Sokka couldn't go fight as he was just a child. Children had no place in war, so then why was it that they were now relying on an avatar that was the same age as young Sokka, watching his father sail away with a heavy heart? If he was too young to see the horrors of war, why wasn't Aang saved from the same fate? In fact, Sokka was still merely a child, and now the entire world was watching for a small band of children to change the fate of everyone. Except they couldn't be children – they had to be soldiers.

Sokka could hardly remember why he wanted to join the fight so badly. Right at this moment, with his sister huddled on the ground, and all their stomachs rumbling fiercely, Sokka wanted nothing more than to wrap them all up, and take them to the South Pole where they would be safe. Safe to run around, goof off, and play juvenile games. Safe to finally be children.

Yet there was no time for that. Sokka kneeled in the earth, freeing Katara's water husk from his secure position around her waist. "Here," Sokka murmured, pushing sweat-soaked hair out of his sister's eye. "Drink this."

"But we need to reserve water," Katara fought weakly. Her protests fell on deaf ears, as Sokka cupped the back of his sister's head with one hand, and raised the container to her lips. As the water began to trickle down her throat, tears began to do the same down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry," Katara whispered, but Sokka only hushed her.

"Shhh shhh, no, it's alright." Without even asking, Toph and Aang vacated the area, giving the siblings some privacy.

"I don't even know why I am crying," Katara laughed weakly, sounding hollow to both their ears.

"You don't have to be strong all the time, Katara," Sokka soothed, wiping the salty tears from where they made tracks on her skin. "I'll take care of you."

"But who will take care of you?" Either Sokka didn't hear her question, or he was ignoring it, as he continued to kneel before his sister, cleaning her up. The dried ground was burning the teen's knees, and Sokka faintly dreamed of the sharp sting of cold snow.

Katara quickly looked around, making sure Toph and Aang were out of ear-shot. "I have something for you." She reached into the billows of cloth swirling around her hips, and pulled out a few anemic strips of dried meat. Holding them out as an offering, she gave her brother a shy smile.

It was the same smile that Katara would give him after she had a nightmare, before crawling under the animal hides protecting his bed from the freezing temperatures. The same smile she gave when she presented Sokka with the very first winter coat she had fashioned together herself. The hems were crooked, and the sleeves were several inches too long, but Sokka had worn that coat with pride. When he finally outgrew it, he begged Katara to recycle it into a new coat. It was the very same coat that lay abandoned in their ruck sack, hiding any trace of any origin other than Fire Nation.

That shy grin didn't tell the story of Katara: the water bender, or Katara: the soldier. That smile told the story of Katara: his baby sister. The baby sister he swore time and time again to protect. Yet, here he had dragged his little sister into the middle of a war zone. He had watched her be beaten down, until both her body and spirit seemed ready to give up. Somewhere in his quest to become a warrior, Sokka had failed at being a big brother.

Sokka's hands curled around Katara's, encasing the dried meat in her small hands. "You keep it, Katara. You need it more than me."

Katara looked like she was about to argue, but after examining her brother's face, she submitted to his request. Pocketing the dried meat, she leaned into her brother, just as she did when they were kids, being comforted by his familiar warm. Her eyes immediately sought out Toph and Aang, where they seemed to be having some sort of dust-ball fight, giggling wildly as the pair grew dustier and dirtier.

"They are so young," Katara spoke, almost absent-mindedly.

Sokka turned his gaze on his sister's face, completely free of the tears that plagued her earlier. "Yeah, they are."


End file.
